Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #5

Writer - Christopher Yost
Art - Marco Checchetto

The Superior Spider-Man has had a plan brewing for some time regarding his old colleagues in the Sinister Six.  Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man from 2099, has become stranded in the present day.  

 

What's Good?

The idea of Spider-Man leading a team of forcefully legitimized criminals is too good to pass up.  Yost delivers some great dialogue and presents a generally interesting plot to the reader.  He has the best of intentions for this story.  

 

I want more Miguel O'Hara in my life.  His presence in the present day has been a huge surprise for me.  I'm happy to see him staying involved with the ongoing Alchemax story and I hope he continues to get panel time.  

What's Not So Good?

The pacing if this story feels off to me.  A lot happened in a truncated amount of time, do the big plot points don't feel as powerful as they could be if the story was drawn out a bit more.  I'm all for short story arcs, but not at the cost of character development.  The reveals about the Superior Six felt rushed and I find myself rapidly losing interest in their story.  This is unfortunate as I was really looking forward to seeing how they factored into the overall Superior story.  

 

The art lacks a dynamic feel in the non-action scenes.  The characters and panel set-ups are well thought, but come across too stiff.  I would have preferred a more fast-paced art approach to match that of the story, as the two seemed to be mismatched.

 

The Verdict...

If it's Superior Spider-Man, I'm going to be there.  I'm more interested in the Spider-books now than I have been in years.  Unfortunately, they can't all be winners.  This book had some serious issues, but a lot of good ideas.  They balance one another out for an ultimately readable, but forgettable, book.